We are very pleased to present the biographical information for our outstanding faculty:

Lauren Morse - Preschool Co-teacher
Email: lmorse@willowschool.org

Lauren earned her B.A. degree in English literature from Colgate University. In 2005, Lauren served as a kindergarten aide at The Willow School, which inspired her to pursue teaching as a career. Lauren earned her Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City. Prior to rejoining The Willow School faculty, Lauren served as an assistant teacher at Trevor Day School and as a head teacher at York Avenue Preschool, both in Manhattan. Lauren lives in New Jersey with her husband.

Jessica Katchen - Preschool Co-teacher
Email: jkatchen@willowschool.org

Jessica holds a B.A. degree in Education from Boston College and a Masters Degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Early Childhood from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Jessica spent six years teaching environmental education on Nantucket Island, MA through a year-round program called Strong Wings. Following this experience, she spent six years teaching at Far Hills Country Day School in grades pre-k, Kindergarten and second grade. Jessica and her husband live in Gladstone. Their two daughters attend The Willow School.

Julie Kim - Kindergarten Teacher
Email: jkim@willowschool.org

Julie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Rutgers University. Upon graduation she worked as a legal assistant at a law firm in Dallas, Texas. Since then she has earned her full teaching certificate at The Princeton Center for Teacher Education. Prior to coming to The Willow School, she served as a head teacher at The Albrook School in Basking Ridge, NJ. While at Albrook she served as a mentor teacher to student teachers guiding them in their understanding of educational philosophies and its implementation. Julie has also taken training and is qualified to serve as an AMS School Consultant. As a consultant, Julie is eligible to help schools verify processes and procedures, identify its skills and talents, assist teachers in identifying goals and examining potential areas of growth.

Katie Lombardo – Kindergarten Associate Teacher
Email: klombardo@willowschool.org

Having completed her B.A. degree, Katie is now pursuing her Masters Degree in Education at Fairleigh Dickinson University while serving as associate teacher. Under the guidance of Amy Swenson, she will continue to broaden her experience and assume more responsibility in the First Grade classroom.  Before coming to Willow, she worked as a teacher's aide in special education at the Mary Cariola Children's Center in Rochester NY.

Amy Swenson- First Grade Teacher
Email: aswenson@willowschool.org

Amy Swenson- Amy has earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Brigham Young in Utah. She has earned Montessori Teaching Credentials having served as head of school and teacher of upper elementary education for a Montessori School in Massachusetts. During her time at The Albrook School she served as Assistant and Advisor to the Head of School. Amy has also taught Preschool and Kindergarten at a local Montessori school. Amy brings with her some thirty years of cumulative teaching experience. She and her husband live in Budd Lake.

Tara VanDette – First Grade Assistant
Email: tvandette@willowschool.org

Tara holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising from Penn State. She participated in Semester at Sea, a once-in a lifetime learning opportunity, literally sailing around the world and receiving a global education. After graduation, Tara worked as a Corporate Event/Meeting Planner for several years, and then enrolled in an alternate route program for her K-5 certification in elementary education. Tara has three years teaching experience at the Kindergarten and First Grade level in both private and public school settings. Tara is associated with Project U.S.E., an experiential education organization, and has worked as a tutor and a facilitator of outdoor adventure courses. Tara has been a Guest Teacher at Willow since January 2009. Tara lives in Morristown with her husband.

Paul Parker - Second Grade Teacher
Email: pparker@willowschool.org

Paul brings over thirty years of teaching experience to his current position as second grade teacher at The Willow School. The majority of his classroom teaching has been with primary students in small schools on the northwest coast of Newfoundland, Canada. In addition to his primary teaching assignments, he has taught a variety of specialty elementary subjects including Science, Computer Science, French and Physical Education. Paul has attended the Programme Special de Français at the University of Laval and received a primary teaching certificate from the Ottawa Teachers College, a B.Sc. from the University of Waterloo and a B.Ed. from Mount Saint Vincent University. Paul was a founding member and field coordinator of the Northern Cultural Heritage Project, which combined scientific research and educational training for Inuit high school students in Canada’s Eastern Arctic. Before joining The Willow School staff, Paul was an alternative education teacher for the Maquatua Eeyou School in Northern Quebec. In this program, Cree students with social and emotional issues pursued academic and traditional studies in both classroom and bush camp settings. Over the course of his teaching career, Paul has done curriculum development projects for the classroom, school and a variety of other organizations including Parks Canada.

Deidre Cooper-Boyce – Third Grade Teacher
Email: dcooper@willowschool.org

Deidre Cooper-Boyce - Deidre is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Long Island University, Georgetown University Law Center and Brooklyn College. She holds a B.A. in English and Sociology, a Juris Doctorate and an M.S. in Elementary Education. After practicing real estate and family law in New York State, she became a teacher with the NYC Department of Education and has since worked in 3 other public school districts teaching grades 3-12. Deidre also worked at Packer Collegiate Institute as an assistant first grade teacher. She is certified as an elementary teacher in both New York and Pennsylvania and as a Reading Specialist in Pennsylvania. Most recently she has lived in Pennsylvania for the past 5 years working as a high school reading specialist. She has two sons and is now returning to NJ to join the Willow School.

Carol Fontaine – Fourth Grade Teacher
Email: cfontaine@willowschool.org

Carol earned a BFA degree from Pratt Institute and Montessori certification at the Elementary level from The Center for Montessori Teacher Education at The College of New Rochelle. She has also taken advanced academic courses in Philosophy at Southern Connecticut State College. For over ten years, Carol served as head elementary teacher and art teacher at The Albrook School in Basking Ridge. In addition, she has served as advisor to student teachers for both The Center for Montessori Teacher Education and The Houston Montessori Center. Carol has also taken training and is qualified to serve as a School Consultant for the American Montessori Society.

Jodi Potter- Fifth Grade Teacher
Email: jpotter@willowschool.org

Jodi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers in Psychology. She completed her post-baccalaureate K-8 teaching certification at Kean College. Currently, Jodi is pursuing her 5-8 Science Certification. She has a wide array of teaching experience in public, private and charter schools. Jodi has spent the last four years teaching in sunny Florida where she focused on creating a curriculum that integrates both Writing and Science. Jodi has just moved to New Jersey with her husband.

Suzzanne Mahoney - Science Teacher Grades K - 4
Email: smahoney@willowschool.org

For 12 years Suzzanne was a naturalist in the Morris County Park System, and for four years before that she was a Licensed Practical Nurse.  Most recently she was a teacher’s assistant at Spruce Run School in Clinton, NJ.  As an additional job, Suzzanne will be the director of our summer camp, which will open in July of 2006.  She received her B.A. in Biology from Kean University.

Shannon Downey – Language Arts Teacher and Middle School Director
Email: sdowney@willowschool.org

Shannon will have dual responsibilities as a reading specialist and language arts teacher.  She earned her B.A. from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA and has been pursuing a master’s degree in elementary education from Seton Hall University.  Shannon is certified in the state of New Jersey as an elementary teacher and has been both a participant and a presenter at numerous curriculum and reading workshops. Before joining the Willow School faculty, Shannon was a fifth and sixth grade teacher at the North Star Academy Charter School in Newark, NJ. 

Michael Chodroff - Middle School Science Teacher
Email: mchodroff@willowschool.org

Michael comes to the Willow School holding a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers in Communication and Journalism. He completed his post-baccalaureate K-8 teaching certification at Kean College. Currently, Michael is pursuing his MA in Educational Technology. In 2003 Michael was the recipient of the NJ Dept of Education Commissioner’s Distinguished Teacher Award. He has been nominated for the NJ Preserve America History Teacher of the Year Award and the Richard C. Bartlett Education Award. Michael will visit the Galapagos Islands as a volunteer with ELI Abroad teaching computers during the summer of 2008.  Michael lives in East Brunswick.

Liliana Lisbao – Middle School History Teacher
Email: llisbao@willowschool.org

Liliana Lisbao, now in her fifth year at The Willow School, brings sixteen years of experience in educational planning and teaching at the preschool and kindergarten level.  Prior to joining The Willow School faculty, she was the director of The Magic Garden Preschool in Highland Park NJ.  In addition to her role as director, Liliana developed and taught after-school programs in history, art and creative writing for elementary school children.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University.

Thomas Williams - Middle School Math Teacher
Email: twilliams@willowschool.org

Tom comes to the Willow School after many years as Sixth Grade Math Teacher and homeroom teacher at the Pingry School in Short Hills and then in Martinsville, New Jersey.  At Pingry, he won the Woodruff J. English Award, which recognized teachers who instill in their students a love of learning and commitment to living the ideals of the School’s Honor Code.  Previously, he taught high school math at Westminster School in Connecticut, and then he had a business career, eventually becoming President and C.E.O. of the Bates Manufacturing Company in Hackettstown, New Jersey. Tom has his B.A. in American Civilization from Williams College, his M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania, and his M.A.T. in Elementary Education from Fairleigh Dickinson University.  He and his wife live in nearby Pottersville and they have two grown sons.

Catherine Luborsky - Teacher of French and Spanish
Email: cluborsky@willowschool.org

Catherine brings over twenty year of experience in teaching French to The Willow School.  Previously, she taught at the Freie Waldorf Schule Wangen in Germany, the Hartsbrook School in Hadley Massachusets and  the Kimberton Walforf School in Kimberton Pennsylvania where she was also the exchange program coordinator and a mentor to incoming language teachers.  Catherine has taught primarily lower school classes but instructed middle and high school grades for six years in Pennsylvania.  She got her Baccalaureat from the Lycée Victor Hugo in Poitiers, France and studied Russian for three years at the Institut des Langues et Civilisations Orientales at the Sorbonne University in Paris.

Linda Cowperthwaite - Middle School Latin Teacher
Email: lcowperthwaite@willowschool.org

Linda holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Drew University with an emphasis on Education and Child Development. For the last two seasons at Willow, Linda helped coach the girls' lacrosse team. Linda's passion for athletics led her to develop the Chester-Mendham girls' lacrosse team for 7 seasons as a volunteer coach for girls in grades four through eight. Linda has been teaching Latin privately over the last 16 years and most recently with The Chandler Learning Center in Bedminster, New Jersey. Linda lives in Califon with her husband and two children, both of whom attend Willow.

Scott Beil - Art Teacher
Email: sbeil@willowschool.org

Scott Beil- Scott has earned a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from Montclair State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts Education from College of New Jersey. Most recently Scott was employed at the Matheny Medical and Educational Centers the Arts Access Art Education Coordinator and Studio Manager at Matheny Medical and Educational Center, where he was responsible for the creation and implementation for a multidisciplinary art education program for students with severe developmental disabilities. Scott has shown his work at various galleries in NY and NJ, Hunter Times Square Gallery, MFA Gallery, Limner Gallery and Bowery Gallery. He was recently featured as an artist at the MSU MFA show at the White Box Annex in NYC. Scott has received the Somerset Cultural and Heritage Commission Excellence in the Arts Award in 2007. He lives in Flanders with his wife.

Brian Gary – Physical Education and After School Sports Teacher
Email: bgary@willowschool.org

A native New Yorker attended Springfield College in Massachusetts where he majored in physical Ed, The National Academy of Design in NYC, and the Rijks Academy in the Netherlands majoring in fine art painting and drawing. Brian is a former player- coach for a professional basketball team in the Netherlands and USATF track and field coach. Brian also was the physical education and health teacher for The Unity Charter School in Morristown whose charter is based on sustainability and ecology. Most recently, Brian was the physical education teacher for the Albrook School in Basking Ridge bringing world games, new games, traditional and non traditional games to that curriculmn. He has conducted several workshops in world games and game development for The Montessori Society in NJ. In addition Brian exhibits and conducts art workshops in the tri state area in ceramics and collage. He has completed his apprenticeship at The Morarvian Tile Works in traditional tile design and mold making. He is a member of the New Museum, NY Botanical Gardens and USATF. Brian lives in Morristown with his family.

Karen Abrams Hilde - Handcrafts and Architecture
Email: khilde@willowschool.org

Before beginning her own practice in 1997, Karen worked for a number of architectural firms, including Michael Graves and Associates in Princeton, doing commercial, educational, and residential work. A commitment to sustainable architecture is what initially made her aware of The Willow School, but it was the school's academic philosophy that engaged her. Karen holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning in addition to formal art training in multiple mediums. Along with her formal architectural training, Karen brings her enthusiasm and love of teaching and her experience in curriculum planning.

Gina Lefferts - Performing Arts
Email: glefferts@willowschool.org

Gina Lefferts graduated magna cum laude in 1978 from Goucher College and Peabody Conservatory. She received her MA in historical musicology from Columbia University in 1984. After many years of teaching, she went back to school to receive certification in the Kodaly method from NYU. Gina has taught music in a variety of settings since 1976. She has taught private piano lessons from 1976 to the present as well as music theory, piano, and music history at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music from 1980-1989. During that time, she also founded a music and movement program for pre-schoolers and coordinated outreach programs into Brooklyn public schools. Gina went on to teach children in grades five through eight at Berkeley Carroll Street School in Brooklyn. In 1993, she moved to Colorado and collaborated with other parents to found a Waldorf-inspired public school in Boulder. She taught at Friends School and then at Alexander Dawson School in Colorado until she moved back to the east coast this summer to begin teaching at The Willow School.

Meg Brandt - Librarian and Reading Specialist
Email: mbrandt@willowschool.org

Meg holds a BA in English from Rutgers College and a MA in Reading from Montclair State University. She is a certified Reading Specialist and Teacher of English K-12. Meg is currently enrolled in the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information for Associate School Library Media Specialist Certification. She has taught middle school language arts as well as journalism and religion. Meg and her husband have four children and live in Chester.

Kim Valentine - Service Learning and After School Enrichment Coordinator
Email: kvalentine@willowschool.org

Kim is a graduate of the University of California at Davis where she earned a B.S. in Human Development with and emphasis on Child Development. She has also completed work towards her California Elementary Teaching Credential at Cal State Northridge and Notre Dame de Namur University. Kim is also working towards a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. She comes to Willow School with over ten years of teaching experience in both Public and Independent school settings. In addition to teaching, Kim has taken on a variety of roles at the schools where she has taught, including Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, Community Service Coordinator, yearbook editor and photographer, and Assistant Softball coach. A native Californian, Kim moved to New Jersey two years ago with her husband.

John Brandi - School Psychologist
Email: jbrandi@willowschool.org

John enjoys an active career in both academic and applied psychology. Prior to joining Willow School in 2010, John consulted nationally for Liberty Behavioral Healthcare, where he developed numerous programs in motivation and performance enhancement, as well as supervised school and clinical assessments. Academically, he is currently a member of the Psychology Department at New Jersey City University where he teaches human learning and motivation, developmental psychology, social psychology and research statistics. In addition, he develops annual symposiums in Positive Psychology. John is also an Assistant Coach for Montclair State University Baseball, where he coaches the mental and motivational aspects of the game. He also has many years of experience coaching New Jersey high school football, as well as other sports. John attended Fordham University, for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.